Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerGov. Chris Christie signaled today that he will might support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to stem the toxic pollution that blows from power plants in other states into New Jersey.

MORRIS PLAINS — Gov. Chris Christie signaled today he might not support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to choke off pollution from power plants in other states that ends up in New Jersey.

The governor also criticized the federal agency for "over-reaching" just three days after it granted his request to force a Pennsylvania coal plant to stop belching toxic fumes that blow into the Garden State.

"I don’t like giving EPA any more power than it has already, in general, especially given this administration’s use of power at the EPA, which has been over-reaching and stifling to job growth and business development in this country," Christie said at a news conference in Morris Plains.

The Republican governor said he had not made a final decision on whether or not to support EPA, whose effort to stem pollution that crosses state lines is being challenged in federal court. But he said he preferred to target power plants that foul New Jersey’s air on a case-by-case basis.

"My inclination is not to deal with these things on a blanket basis by giving more power over to the federal government," Christie said. "I think they have more than enough power as it is."

Brendan Gilfillan, a spokesman for the EPA’s national headquarters in Washington, said in a statement that Christie knows exactly where the federal agency gets the authority to protect people’s health from the pollution, which contributes to asthma and other respiratory problems.

"The governor is a former U.S. attorney, so he knows as well as anyone that the Clean Air Act gives EPA the authority to protect communities in states like New Jersey that suffer from air pollution emitted by facilities thousands of miles away," Gilfillan said.

If Christie chooses not to lend EPA his support by Monday’s filing deadline, the decision will contradict the sentiments of his own state Department of Environmental Protection, whose staff last year applauded the plan at a hearing in Philadelphia and asked that it be strengthened.

DEP Commissioner Bob Martin supports reducing out-of-state pollution, but has deferred to Christie on whether or not to support EPA’s plan in court, his spokesman, Larry Ragonese, said.

Christie’s comments drew criticism from environmentalists, who — in a rare alliance with two of the state’s major power companies and the state Chamber of Commerce — have lobbied him to support the federal agency.

"It seems so anti-New Jersey to be anti-EPA and anti-environmental protection because we have way too much pollution here," said Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of Environment New Jersey. "It’s all parroting of conservative rhetoric in the national party."

For decades, Republicans and Democrats alike in New Jersey — including Christie — have battled plants in other states whose pollution blows east and causes the Garden State to fail federal standards for healthy air.

This week, the EPA granted the state’s request to force a Pennsylvania coal-fired plant across the Delaware River from Warren County to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide by 81 percent within three years.

But saying piecemeal efforts will never alleviate the problem, the EPA also plans to require power plants in 27 states, including New Jersey, to install new equipment to reduce emissions.